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Quinn Hughes Expected to Give the Vancouver Canucks an Ultimatum After Latest Report From Elliotte Friedman

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Jack Sutherland | Last updated Jun 5, 2025 6:02 PM ET

The Vancouver Canucks could be receiving an ultimatum from captain and former Norris Trophy winning defenseman Quinn Hughes before long, per a new report.

The Vancouver Canucks went through nothing short of a difficult year in 2024-25, coming nowhere close to living up to the expectations of their previous season that saw them win the Pacific Division title and advance to Game 7 of the WCSF.

Not only did they miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but had to go through multiple weeks of conflict between star forwards JT Miller and Elias Petterson, resulting in the former being traded to the New York Rangers.

Head coach Rick Tocchet also stepped down after just 2.5 years on the job, and has since resurfaced as the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers just weeks later.

Just how much longer is captain and former Norris Trophy winning defenseman Quinn Hughes going to put up with disfunction within the organization? Apparently not long, per a newly released report.

Per top NHL analyst Elliotte Friedman, the Canucks are soon going to be on the clock in Hughes' eyes.

Last year when they went to the second round of the playoffs and took Edmonton to seven games, nobody was talking about any of this stuff. Nobody. And this year, they have a nightmare year. They trade Miller, they miss the playoffs, their coach leaves. Now this comes out.

I look at it this way - if you're Quinn Hughes, I think more than anything else, he wants to win. And if the Vancouver Canucks are in a situation where they can win, I don't think we're hearing a lot of this noise.
Hughes is going to start looking and saying, 'I don't want to be somewhere where I'm not going to win.' So I don't think this is a question if the Canucks are a winner. I think it's purely a question because they're not going very well.

Hughes was limited to just 68 games and was unable to play for the American squad in the 4 Nations Faceoff, but still put up 76 points (16G, 60A).

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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